December 3-10, 2011

During another business trip to China, a couple Synapsters and I decided to check out a new climbing area in Hong Kong on an island called Tung Lung Chow. A quick ferry ride from Kowloon brought us to the uninhabited island where we explored and climbed at a few different crags.

The scenery was gorgeous, with huge waves crashing on the Eastern shore of the island and cliffs rising just above the surf. We hit up the most popular crag first and enjoyed everything from French grade 5+ through 7a sport climbs set to the soundtrack of crashing waves. The salt air was palpable and our hands had a film of salt covering them by the end of the day.

We ran into some locals and chatted them up about climbing in the area and beta at the crag. They were super-nice and seemed interested in chatting us up.

After exhausting ourselves at the main crag, we hiked up the ridge-line to a high-point with a large boulder on it. The boulder had a few bolted routes and we climbed an arete with fabulous views of Hong Kong before hiking back down and catching the ferry.

The next weekend, we decided the climbing was too good to pass up again, so we returned to Tung Lung. The weather was slightly colder, but we stayed in the sun for the most part and enjoyed a handful of great climbs at two different crags. Our last climb was about 25 meters of 5.10a right above the crashing waves. It was awesome.